EXPANDING SYSTEM USING PLASMA DISCHARGE

SYSTEME EXPANSIBLE UTILISANT LA DECHARGE DE PLASMA

English Abstract

The present invention relates to an expansion system using a plasma discharge in which in which a charged electric energy is fast discharged, so that a high pressure is generated within liquid based on an impact wave, which can be used in various industrial fields as a simple expanding method. The expansion system using a plasma discharge comprises a capsule for sealingly storing a certain liquid therein; a cable of which one end is connected with an expansion wire within a liquid of the capsule, and other end is connected to the outside of the capsule; and a controller that converts an external AC power inputted through a terminal into a DC power and indicates the power on a lamp and a voltage meter and applies a high voltage energy to the cable in cooperation with an operation of the push button, wherein an expansion is instantly achieved in the interior of the liquid.

French Abstract

La présente invention concerne un système expansible utilisant la décharge de plasma dans laquelle une énergie électrique chargée est déchargée rapidement, de sorte qu'une haute pression est générée à l'intérieur du liquide à l'aide d'une onde d'impact, qui peut être utilisé dans différents domaines industriels comme une simple méthode d'expansion. Le système expansible utilisant la décharge de plasma comprend une capsule pour stocker de manière étanche un liquide se trouvant à l'intérieur; un câble dont une extrémité est reliée à un fil d'expansion dans un liquide de la capsule, et l'autre extrémité est reliée à l'extérieur de la capsule, et un contrôleur qui convertit une puissance en courant alternatif externe entrée par l'intermédiaire d'un terminal dans une puissance en courant continu et indique la puissance d'une lampe et un voltmètre et applique une énergie de haute tension au câble en coopération avec l'actionnement du bouton-poussoir, par lequel l'expansion est instantanément réalisée dans l'intérieur du liquide.

Claims

What is claimed is:
1. An expansion system using a plasma discharge,
comprising:
a capsule for sealingly storing a liquid therein;
a cable having first and second ends, the first end
being connected with an expansion wire within the liquid of
the capsule, and the second end being connected to an
outside of the capsule; and
a controller constructed and arranged to convert
external AC (Alternating Current) power inputted through a
terminal into DC (Direct Current) power, to indicate a DC
power level on a lamp and a voltage meter and to apply a
high voltage energy to the cable, the controller comprising
circuit means comprising:
first and second pairs of input terminals
connected to the terminal, wherein
(i) the first pair of input terminals are
connected with a spark gap by disposing a first
capacitor, a push button, a transformer, and a
second capacitor therebetween, and
(ii) the second pair of input terminals are
connected with the spark gap by disposing a third
capacitor and the expansion wire therebetween,
wherein upon operation of the push button an expansion is
instantly achieved in the interior of the liquid.
2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the expansion
wire of the cable is constructed and arranged to generate
an instant expansion in the interior of liquid using a
conductive metallic wire.

Description

CA 02492552 2007-03-23
EXPANDING SYSTEM USING PLASMA DISCHARGE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an expanding system using
a plasma discharge, and in particular to an expanding
system using a plasma discharge in which a charged electric
energy is fast discharged, so that a high pressure is
generated within liquid based on an impact wave, which can
be used in various industrial fields as a simple expanding
method.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the construction of
a conventional explosion apparatus.
As shown therein, reference numeral 1 represents a power
for generating explosive spark, 2 represents a capacitor
for charging electric energy, 3 represents a resistor, 4
represents a switch for performing explosion, and 5
represents a capsule for receiving an expanding compound.
With the above constructions, a DC (Direct Current) power 1
is connected, and the switch 4 is turned on, and an
electric charge is charged and discharged in the capacitor
2. A compound in the capsule 5 is lit for thereby
generating an expanding force. The expansion energy
resulting from the compound is generally over 10 times of
the energy stored in the capacitor 2.
However, in the above construction, since a large number of
devices is used, it takes too much time until the
expansion. Therefore, it is impossible to fully and
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instantly receive the input of energy for storing energy
and generating plasma, so that an expansion element for
generating plasma is not successful. The whole efficiency
of the expansion work by plasma does not exceed about 15%.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to
provide an expansion system using a plasma discharge
capable of overcoming the problems encountered in the
conventional art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an
expansion system using a plasma discharge in which a
charged electric energy is fast discharged, so that a high
pressure is generated within liquid based on an impact
wave, which can be used in various industrial fields as a
simple expanding method.
To achieve the above objects, there is provided an
expansion system using a plasma discharge, comprising a
capsule for sealingly storing a certain liquid therein; a
cable of which one end is connected with an expansion wire
within a liquid of the capsule, and the other end is
connected to the outside of the capsule; and a controller
that converts an external AC power inputted through a
terminal into a DC power and indicates the power on a lamp
and a voltage meter and applies a high voltage energy to
the cable in cooperation with an operation of the push
button, wherein an expansion is instantly achieved in the
interior of the liquid.
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In the present invention, an expansion wire of the cable is
designed to generate an instant expansion in the interior
of the liquid using a conductive metallic wire.
A DC power of a first terminal is connected with a spark
gap by disposing a first capacitor Cl, a push button, a
transformer, and a second capacitor C2 therebetween, and a
DC power of a second terminal is connected with the spark
gap by disposing a third capacitor C3 and an expansion wire
therebetween for thereby achieving an instant expansion.
In a first broad aspect, the present invention seeks to
provide an expansion system using a plasma discharge,
comprising:
a capsule for sealingly storing a liquid therein;
a cable having first and second ends, the first end
being connected with an expansion wire within the liquid of
the capsule, and the second end being connected to an
outside of the capsule; and
a controller constructed and arranged to convert
external AC (Alternating Current) power inputted through a
terminal into DC (Direct Current) power, to indicate a DC
power level on a lamp and a voltage meter and to apply a
high voltage energy to the cable, the controller comprising
circuit means comprising:
first and second pairs of input terminals connected to
the terminal, wherein
(i) the first pair of input terminals are
connected with a spark gap by disposing a first
capacitor, a push button, a transformer, and a second
capacitor therebetween, and
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(ii) the second pair of input terminals are
connected with the spark gap by disposing a third
capacitor and the expansion wire therebetween,
wherein upon operation of the push button an expansion is
instantly achieved in the interior of the liquid.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will become better understood with
reference to the accompanying drawings which are given only
by way of illustration and thus are not limitative of the
present invention, wherein;
FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the construction of
a conventional explosion apparatus;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating the construction of
a major part of an expanding system according to the
present invention;
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of an expanding system
according to the present invention; and
FIGS. 4(a) through 4(e) are views illustrating an expanding
process together with a pressure distribution diagram
according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1, which shows an apparatus of the prior art, has been
discussed above.
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FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating the construction of
a major part of an expanding system according to the
present invention.
The capsule 10 according to the present invention is
designed to sealingly store a certain liquid therein, for
example, a non-compressive liquid 11, such as water. As the
selected liquid is charged in the interior of the capsule
10, the capsule 10 may be formed of using a metallic
material or a non-metallic material. The capsule 10 may
have different sizes and shapes depending on the current
site condition where the device is to be used. In the
present invention, since a non-compressive liquid 11 such
as water is used instead of a conventional compound, it is
very economical and safe.
In the present invention, one end of a cable 20 is
connected with an expansion wire 21 within the liquid 11 of
the capsule 10. The cable 20 may be of any suitable type
depending on the condition and distance of the expansion
site and is detachably connected for easier exchange.
The expansion wire 21 of the cable 20 is preferably formed
of a conductive metallic material, for example, a copper
wire having a diameter of 5 x 10-6 m, and a length of 0.01
m. The kind, diameter and length of the expansion wire 21
may be appropriately selected based on the expansion force
needed at the work site. In addition, where the expansion
wire 21 is formed of copper as a conductive metallic wire,
another similar conductive metallic wire may be used,
taking into consideration the copper's melting point (Tm)
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(Tm) of 1385K, boiling point (Tb) of 2595K, and heat
capacity of 400 J/KgK. In addition, a metallic wire having
a melting point much higher than that of the copper is used
at a portion in which the expansion wire 21 is supported,
for thereby maintaining a desired interval for discharge.
In addition, the controller 30 according to the present
invention is designed to convert an external AC inputted
through a terminal 31 into a DC power and to apply a high
voltage energy to the cable 20 based on the DC power. The
DC power converted by the controller 30 is indicated on a
display such as lamp 32 and a voltage meter 33 for visual
confirmation.
FIG. 3 is a view illustrating the construction of the whole
circuits for an operation of the expansion system according
to the present invention.
As shown therein, in the controller 30, a DC power 31a of
one side is connected with a spark gap 36 by disposing a
first capacitor Cl, a push button 34, a transformer 35, and
a second capacitor C2 therebetween, and the DC power 31b of
the other side is connected with a spark gap 36 by
disposing a third capacitor C3 and an expansion wire 21
therebetween.
The input of the transformer 35, the first capacitor Cl and
the lamp 32 are connected with the DC power 31a of the left
side in parallel, and the push button 34 is connected with
the transformer 35 in series. The output side of the
transformer 35 is connected with the spark gap 36 through
the second capacitor C2. Here, the spark gap 36, the third
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capacitor C3 and the voltage meter 33 are connected with
the DC power 31b of the right side in parallel, and the
expansion wire 21 is connected with the spark gap 36 in
series.
In operation of the invention, the DC power 31a and 31b are
each about 3000V, but the DC power of the right side can be
changed up to 500V. The third capacitor C3 that is a main
storage of the discharge energy for expansion is 1pF and
3000V, and the first capacitor Cl and the second capacitor
C2 of the assistant storage are each 0.51 pF and 3000V.
The first capacitor Cl and the third capacitor C3 are
charged by the DC powers 31a and 31b, respectively and it
is possible to visually check the standby state on the lamp
32 and the voltage meter 33. In this state, when the push
button 34 is pushed, the energy of the first capacitor Cl
is applied to the ignition electrode of the spark gap 36
through the transformer 35 and the second capacitor C2 for
thereby forming a pulse of 12000V thereat. At the time when
the charge crosses the spark gap 36, the electric charge of
the third capacitor C3 is applied to the expansion wire 21
for thereby generating discharge.
FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are views illustrating the process of
the expansion and the pressure distribution sequences.
As shown in FIG. 4(a), the temperature of the expansion
wire 21 is increased and reaches the melting point. As
shown in FIG. 4(b), the expansion wire 21 melts, and at the
same time the discharge is generated for thereby generating
an impact wave. As shown in FIG. 4C, a charge distance is
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formed together with the plasma channel. The electric
energy is applied to the discharge plasma channel, and the
impact wave W' is transferred without any decrease in the
width. At this time, the pressure distribution is uniform
in the impact wave W'.
As shown in FIG. 4(d), the discharge is finished, and a
thin wave that does not reach the front surface of the
impact wave occurs at the center and starts to spread, so
that the impact wave W" is more spread than impact wave
W'. At this time, the pressure distribution is the highest
at the center and is weakened toward the surrounding
portions. As shown in FIG. 4(e), the thin waves are
weakened, and the whole pressure distribution is decreased.
The following Table 1 shows a result of the test using the
apparatus according to the present invention based on a
computer simulation. As seen therein, the speed E of the
liquid (water) at the front surface of the impact wave p
represents the energy accumulated at the impact waves and
plasma channel, and Pmax represents a pressure in the impact
waves, and d represents the expansion center with respect
to the front surface of the impact wave, namely, the
distance from the center of the expansion wire 21. As seen
in Table 1, the impact waves form a higher expansion energy
and pressure at a shorter distance.
In the system according to the present invention, it is
possible to achieve a small size and a good movement and a
high efficiency of over 50%. Any environmental and
biological problems are minimized or avoided, and noise due
to expansion is small, thereby minimizing any pollution.
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u (m/s) E (J) Pmax (atm) D (mm)
1.0 0.58 0.58 8.2
5.0 3.03 82.83 8.3
7.0 4.32 116.21 8.3
10.0 6.31 166.23 8.3
15.0 9.82 251.42 8.33
20.0 13.62 337.14 8.43
40.0 31.53 689.81 8.56
70.0 68.03 1247.81 8.90
Table 1
As described above, in the expansion system using a plasma
discharge according to the present invention, a high
pressure is generated based on an impact wave by instantly
discharging a charged electric energy. Therefore, the
present invention may be used in various industrial fields.
As the present invention may be embodied in several forms
without departing from the spirit or essential
characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that
the above-described examples are not limited by any of the
details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise
specified, but rather should be construed broadly within
its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and
therefore all changes and modifications that fall within
the scope of the claims, or equivalences of such scope are
therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.
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Representative Drawing